Regions first green campus in Malabe

Investment to pass Rs. 1 billion:

Shirajiv Sirimane

Entrepreneur and former owner of Asha Central Hospital Dr. Neville Fernando would be investing over Rs. one billion to put up South Asian Institute of Technology and Management (SAITM) at Malabe.

He said that the construction of the five storied complex would cost around Rs. 350 million. In an interview with ‘Daily News Business’ he said that he construction of the complex which is the regions first ‘green’ university has already begun and is to be completed by the end of the year.

Dr. Fernando Picture by Saliya Rupasinghe

Plans to make SAITM as environmentally friendly by adopting practices such as recycling of water, collecting of rainwater and the natural habitat would be left as it is for the students to enjoy.

“SAITM will have over 20 spacious lecture rooms, spacious laboratories and a vast recreational area for students, where they can harmonise with the nature to enhance their learning experience” Dr. Fernando stated.

“The state of the art campus spanning over 80,000 square feet would offer students a real university learning experience which is lacking in most of the private tertiary education institutions in the country.”

His vision is to provide affordable education to Sri Lankan youth to empower them for the future. “We have made sure that no expense is spared when building the campus and we even plan to have on site restaurant preparing wholesome meals for students at cost price.”

He said that one of the main subjects offered would be IT as there is a growing demand for it. At the initial stage SAITM would offer programmes fewer than three faculties, Languages, IT and Management and Communication and Mass Media. Dr. Fernando also hopes to start a Faculties of Engineering and Medicine in the second phase of the project.

Finally he hopes to add a private hospital for the project. “These would cost over RS. 600 million,” he said. SAITM would tie up with foreign universities to offer programmes and would be operated conforming to University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines. “We have already recruited highly qualified academics as deans of faculties and all our academic staff would be recruited in accordance with UGC requirements.

Dr. Fernando who was the founder Chairman of Royal Fernwood Porcelain said that the profit generated from the sale of Asha Central was utilised for this investment and no outside funding was used.

He said that he is not seeking to recover his investment and only looking at an operational profit to run the campus.

“That way we ensure that the students do not have to pay exorbitant fees to get their qualifications”. Dr. Fernando.